The Gondola Blog

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Retired
gondoliers: "Ganzers" Has anyone out there heard this term? Maybe I
have misspelled it but I once witnessed an older man hanging out at the basin
behind Saint Marks Square, assisting tourist onto gondolas using this unusual
stick that looked like a fancy cane. When I asked about him I was told he had
rowed gondolas for many years and he was now retired. His entire life was spent
on and around the boats that we all love. He opted in retirement to stay close
to what he knew so well, by assisting people onto the departing gondolas, he
was often rewarded with small tips but more important to him was his
association and the camaraderie that he had with fellow gondoliers and probably
a few good glasses of wine . They referred to him as the Ganzer!

Over 22 years ago, after visiting Venice with my
wife, we became infatuated with everything GONDOLA. Its amazing how much history
and information is out there. With a stroke of luck we found out that Tom Price,
sent by The Watson Foundation, was in Venice striving to work with the remaining
Squeros to protect, preserve and help educate the public about the values in
preserving the traditions of gondolas with a rich history going back nearly
1000 years. Tom is a real special guy and we sincerely want to say
a big thank you to him for exposing his knowledge, his contacts and his
Venetian friendships to us. Boston Gondolas would not exist without the
help and Support we got from Tom.
With nearly 10,000 miles of rowing
behind us and countless memories, Steve and I are about to become Ganzers. Our
very last tours are now behind us. Sure it is bittersweet, the mind says keep
rowing but the body tells us otherwise. No doubt this is a young man's game! It's
time for me to spend some time with the grandchildren, maybe fish a little, and
indulge into other aspects of my life.
A very special thank you goes out to our staff.
Charlie and Tony have been loyal and dependable gondoliers, we could not have
continued the past few years without them. Our Musicians are awesome,
Pete Bufano, Tara, Justin, Tony, Abbey, Yaeko - you guys helped make Boston
Gondolas the first class operation that it is. Thank You!!
There have been countless friends along the way,
but there is only one guy that has never missed a beat from the very first day we
opened. Steve Bruno, my business partner and good friend . YOU ARE THE BEST.
Steve's wife Sue and my wife Camille have put up with our absence now for 17
years during gondola season, now those are good women!! Thank you girls!
Goodbye to all that have been part of this
incredible journey.We will no doubt miss the daily adventures of rowing
gondolas but we are now GANZERS.

Ciao,
Joe Gibbons and Steve Bruno
PS: We are looking for someone
with the passion and desire to own and operate Boston Gondolas here in
Boston on The Charles River. If you have interest please email or Call
Joe:joegibbons1@yahoo.comor617-460-1239My friend Joe, his wife, and their friends and family built something beautiful - something great for the community, and they had a great run.The gondola business in the US is better because of it.I wish Joe and Steve the very best in their future as ganzers.

Monday, September 25, 2017

My friends at the GSVVM - a rowing club I'm a member of in Mestre - launched several of the club boats to row into the city for Regata Storica.

Some years back I was fortunate enough to make it to Venezia for this annual event, and I will truly never forget it. The GSVVM has a large fleet of rowing craft, ranging from tiny mascarete to a huge quattordesona.

If you can get aboard one, and get into the city early enough, you can tie up along the Grand Canal and enjoy the parade and races from the very best location.

Nereo Zane was aboard a caorlina, with a group of club members on several boats.

These are photos he sent me from the day.

Some of the club members watching the activity on the water.

Club spirit!

The best seats in the house.

Our neighboring club in Mestre wears green and white.

This is one of those "everyone's gonna be out there" days.All the rowing clubs dress up and row their finest boats.Of course, you can expect to see some of the biggest multi-oared vessels gliding by.I like to call these boats the "big desonas".

The Associazione Settemari out of Cannaregio proudly showing off their ten-oared "Diesona"

One the most impressive club boats is the 18 oar disdotona - the pride of the club Canottieri Francesco Querini in Castello.

My personal favorite is "Mestrina" - a quattordesona (14 rowers),

representing the GSVVM in Mestre.

These boats are so long that you can't always capture one from tip to tip with your camera.

Along with rowing club boats, there are period vessels,

with folks in period costume.

It's always fun to see someone you know on one of these boats.

After all of the processions, the canalazzo is cleared, and the races begin.I could fill up an entire blog with all of the photos of all of the boats in all of the races, but in the interest of brevity, here are just a few.

In the six-man caorlina race, there are 54 rowers spread out over the nine individual boats. Just about everyone knows someone on a boat - so there's always lots of shouting from the spectators.

The GSVVM crowd were all cheering for the white boat.

The women's race takes place on light, fast mascarete.

I believe there were club members on both the green and the orange boat.

Actually I know the woman in front on the orange mascareta.

Heading towards the finish line.

As fast as possible.

Big thanks to Nereo Zane for these great images, and for making us feel like we were right there with the GSVVM club members, sitting on the rails of those club boats.Maybe next year some of us will be.

About Me

Greg Mohr – Husband, dad, gondolier.
President of Gondola Adventures, Inc.
www.gondola.com
and president of the Gondola Society of America
(which basically means that I’m the most hopeless of all the gondola fanatics).

GONDOLAS IN AMERICA

For years I’ve said that“Most gondola operations are the best kept secret in their town”As president of the Gondola Society of America, one of my goals is to change that and help people find gondolas wherever they are.Here is a list of gondola operations in North America:The fine print -States are listed alphabetically, California operations are listed south-to-north.Not all of the listings below have Venice-built boats.Some operations are seasonal and may not have boats in the water during winter.If you know of an operation that’s not listed here, I’d like to hear about it.If you have a complaint about something on this list, count to ten, if you’re still angry – take a gondola cruise, because you probably need to relax.